Drainage of China's main quake lake goes smoothly

　　
Engineering soldiers fire a missile to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel in Tangjiashan, quake-hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 8, 2008. A total of 4 missiles were fired on Sunday to clear boulders in the sluice channel, which speeded up the drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake that began on Saturday morning.

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan "quake lake" in Sichuan Province has gone smoothly since Saturday. However, local government is still on high alert.

　　Engineering soldiers have fired missiles to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel to accelerate water drainage.

　　Main quake lake overflows into sluice channel

oldiers jump into the man-made sluice channel to clear objects obstructing the water drain from the Tangjiashan "quake lake" in Mianyang City, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 7, 2008.

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Engineering soldiers began to use dynamite to blast off boulders and objects in the dangerous Tangjiashan "quake lake" so that water drained faster through a man-made sluice channel.

　　Minister: China's quake lake still dangerous
2008-06-07 21:33

Water drained from the Tangjiashan "quake lake" flows in the quake-devastated Mianyang City, June 7, 2008.

　　TANGJIASHAN, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Tangjiashan quake lake was still dangerous despite drainage efforts that started on Saturday morning, Water Resources Minister Chen Lei said here.

　　Between 400 mm and 500 mm of rainfall, well above the normal level, was forecast upstream in June and July. This posed a challenge for the already swollen lake, he told Xinhua.

　　Quake lake drainage speeds up as boulder in sluice channel blasted off 2008-06-07 16:37

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The water flow at the sluice channel of the Tangjiashan quake lake has speeded up as engineering soldiers blasted off a boulder in the man-made sluice channel on Saturday afternoon.

　　Experts calculated that the water flows at seven to eight cubicmeters per second, far more than the previous two cubic meters per second.

　　
Picture taken on June 7, 2008, shows water flowing down through the man-made sluice channel from the Tangjiashan "quake lake" in Mianyang of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Experts calculated that the water stream flows at a speed of seven to eight cubic meters per second after a boulder in the channel is blasted on Saturday afternoon accelerating the speed from previous two cubic meters per second.

　　Water level keeps rising after China's main quake lake overflows into sluice channel
2008-06-07 13:41

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The water level has kept on rising after the long-awaited drainage of China's Tangjiashan "quake lake" started on Saturday morning, and its water flowed into a manmade sluice channel.

　　For Rao Xiping, head of the Beichuan hydrometeorological station, the flow volume has yet to reach the ideal status of 100 plus cubic meters per second, and only 40 cubic meters of water flow per second in the sluice channel.

　　PLA commander: No collapsing danger for quake lake dam in forseeable period
2008-06-07 13:24

　　TANGJIASHAN, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The dam of Tangjiashan quake lake faces no danger of collapsing in the foreseeable period, a top military commander at the site said Saturday.

　　"The dam has no collapsing danger in the foreseeable period," said Fan Xiaoguang, deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Area Command.

　　Helicopter airlifts tons of dynamites to Tangjiashan quake lake
2008-06-07 11:42

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A military helicopter Saturday morning delivered three tons of dynamites to the Tangjiashan quake lake, where water has overflowed into a sluice channel.

　　The Mi-171 helicopter under the Jinan Military Area Command flew six missions from the Mianyang airport, carrying also 20-odd soldiers of an engineering troop.

　　China's main quake lake overflows into sluice channel
2008-06-07 10:58

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The channel bifurcated, and some of the water diverged into the separate small channel at 9:30 a.m.

　　Soldiers of the armed police force are still working at the exit of the sluice channel to expand the channel and make it steepy so that the flow could be speeded up.

　　Overflow begins at China's main quake lake
2008-06-07 08:36

　　MIANYANG, Sichuan Province, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The long-awaited drainage of China's Tangjiashan "quake lake" started at 7:08 a.m. Saturday, when its water flowed into a manmade sluice channel.

　　A Xinhua reporter at the commanding center saw water passing the sluice channel via satellite monitor. The flow was rapid, steady and gradually increasing in volume.

An engineering soldier prepares to fire a missile to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel in Tangjiashan, quake-hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 8, 2008. A total of 4 missiles were fired on Sunday to clear boulders in the sluice channel, which speeded up the drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake that began on Saturday morning.

Engineering soldiers prepare to fire a missile to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel in Tangjiashan, quake-hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 8, 2008. A total of 4 missiles were fired on Sunday to clear boulders in the sluice channel, which speeded up the drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake that began on Saturday morning.

　　
Soldiers jump into the man-made sluice channel to clear objects obstructing the water drain from the Tangjiashan "quake lake" in Mianyang City, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 7, 2008. The long-awaited drainage of the lake formed by the May 12 earthquake started at 7:08 a.m. Saturday, when its water flowed into a manmade sluice channel.

Engineering soldiers prepare to fire missiles to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel in Tangjiashan, quake-hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 8, 2008. A total of 4 missiles were fired on Sunday to clear boulders in the sluice channel, which speeded up the drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake that began on Saturday morning.

An engineering soldier prepares to fire a missile to blast boulders in a man-made sluice channel in Tangjiashan, quake-hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 8, 2008. A total of 4 missiles were fired on Sunday to clear boulders in the sluice channel, which speeded up the drainage of the dangerous Tangjiashan quake lake that began on Saturday morning.